1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a vehicle headlamp aiming device, and more particularly to a device for adjusting the position of the headlight for use with a vehicle headlight adjusting assembly. The vehicle headlamp aiming device is positioned on the drive member of the vehicle headlight adjusting assembly and secured thereto. Portions will break if the device is removed from the drive member to indicate any tampering therewith. The present invention provides evidence that a headlight adjusting assembly has not been tampered with.
2. Description of the Related Art
Vehicular headlights have for many years been mounted on moveable frames to enable periodic adjustment of their position which is apt to change due to vibration and the like. Ideally, the headlights illuminate the road ahead in a suitable manner without focusing directly on oncoming vehicles which could possibly blind the opposing driver.
Although the headlight frame position has commonly been adjustable by means of straight screws threadingly engaged with a fixed frame and located so that upon rotation they operate to move the headlight and its frame upwardly and downwardly, or to the right and left as required, lately, due to more complex designs and more difficult accessibility, gear box assembles have been recently employed to provide for rotatable input drive member and an output adjusting screw that are either horizontally or angularly oriented with respect to each other.
One such example is disclosed and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,665,469 which is assigned to the Assignee of the present invention, and hereby incorporated by reference. Other examples of these gearbox assemblies are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,893,219; 5,165,775; 5,398,173; and 5,508,896. These patents are also incorporated herein by reference.
In addition to the above patents, some of the headlight position adjusting assemblies have been designed to prevent the output adjustment member from rotating while traversing in opposite axial directions in response to the rotation of the input drive member in opposite directions. Example of these devices are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,796,494; 5,186,531; 5,309,780; and 5,351,170.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,775,795 describes a vehicular headlight adjusting assembly that is operative to cause an adjusting member operatively connected to the headlight frame to traverse without rotation in opposite axial directions and move the frame in response to rotation of the angularly oriented input drive member. This patent is assigned to the Assignee of the present invention and hereby incorporated by reference.
The law requires a device to indicate when a headlight adjustment assembly has been re-adjusted or tampered with. Usually, the input drive member for a headlight gear box position adjusting assembly is fixed in place to prevent unauthorized tampering or movement after the headlights have been adjusted. Some prior art methods for (locking) the input drive member have included simply gluing the input drive member with a hot melt glue gun, for example, or and/or placing some type of covering device over the input drive member in an attempt to fix it in that position. The disadvantage of attempting to glue the member is that it requires a primer so that the glue adheres.
There still exists a need for a device that can be used to fix the input drive member in position. Such a device would indicate whether or not the input drive member was moved since the initial adjustment. This device preferably would be removable, but would have indicators revealing that it had been removed. Preferably, such a device would further include markings thereon to show on a calibrated scale the amount of movement or adjustment made. Also, the device should easily be installed by simply "snapping" it on.